Belligerent hunger

Mat 5:6 Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

I remember praying a season ago for God to give me hunger for Him. I was going through life very bored and spiritually dry, and I just didn’t have a hunger for the things of God. Well, as He always does, He answered my prayer in full force.

There are times when I get belligerently hungry for God. I usually try to find a place alone to search Him out and worship Him, otherwise I am very annoying and vexing to those around me.

It makes me think of one of my favorite worship songs from a few years ago, David Crowder’s “Intoxicating:”

Intoxicating You are to me
Illuminating You are to see
Truly breathtaking You are to breathe
Sending my head spinning You are, You see

And I’ve lost my mind, I’m sure to find
Need to apologize for my
Lack of inhibition, for my belligerent condition
But with You this near I’m dizzy

Inebriating You are to me
Completely captivating You are you see
Sending my world spinning You are, You see

And now I find a blurry line
Here between You and I
Raise the cup, drink ’til I’m full
Sing ’til I can’t, ’til my voice is gone
And my head is spinning

Illuminating You are to see
Truly breathtaking You are to breathe
Sending my head spinning You are, You see
It’s on the Illuminate CD, but a far better version is on Sunsets and Sushi

I really love that kind of hunger. It is very precious to me, because I have to pray for it continuously.

The incredible confidence of living in God

Hbr 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Hbr 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
1Jo 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
1Jo 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, [then] have we confidence toward God.
1Jo 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

This past sunday I had the joy of fellowshipping with some brothers and sisters in Christ which I haven’t seen in three years. As I was hugging them and catching up with them, I thought back to where I was in Christ the last time I saw them. I remembered how timid I was compared to now, and how fearful I was of having different issues in my life exposed, even minor ones. I was constantly on the lookout so that I wouldn’t ever say or do anything untoward.

I marveled at what God has done in my life to free me of that kind of mentality, and how He has given me an identity in Him, and the confidence to know that whatever evil I have in my heart He is dealing with in His mercy and love. I know that God is not trying to condemn me, that He wants me to be healed in every way and in every place of my heart, and the family of God that He has placed me in has that same mind.

THAT is confidence.

The easy way

I was meditating on the temptation of Jesus as I was getting ready this morning (Matt 4), and I noticed a theme. Every time the devil tempted Him, he tried to get Him to step outside the bounds the Father had imposed on Him, specifically, to fulfill the will of the Father according to the flesh (Gal 3:3). I think this is a huge problem in the church today. We see the problems of the earth and we try to solve them the quick way, the easy way… the way of the flesh.

Had an abortion? We have a teaching series on that!
Just got divorced? We have a teaching series on that!
Struggling with pornography? We have a teaching series on that!

Now, I have a lot of respect for godly teachers and good bible teaching, but it takes more than just teaching to change a nation. A whole lot more.

Jesus told us that when we’re confronting the worst that the world has to offer, we must contend in fasting and prayer (Matt 17:21, Mark 9:29). This is the hard way, the slow way. The way of God, because it a) causes you to undergo change in the inner man (Eph 3:16) and b) it causes you to draw near to the Father’s heart, and learn his ways (Psalm 103:7).

Burn Oklahoma City

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of joining in with the good folks from The Burn Oklahoma City for 24 hours of worship, prayer, fasting and contending together for our city, our nation, ourselves and for the body of Christ.

It was a pretty awesome event that left me hungering for more. We had some really sweet times of worship and prayer.

I had the opportunity to grab the mic a couple times and speak forth (more like whimper) a prayer that God had burning on my heart, only to stumble back to my seat in tears, completely broken and thankful for what God was doing.

A longing…

Pro 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But [when] the desire comes, [it is] a tree of life.

I had been praying for a while for 24/7 prayer to break forth in Oklahoma City. For the longest time, it seemed like OKC was the only major city not to be hit by the prayer movement. There is much work to be done in the realm of intercession for this city. I couldn’t help but notice at least four ambulances drive by our location downtown during the 18 hours I spent there. But even more distressing than that is the spiritual condition of the city.

Wake up, Oklahoma City. Your Bridegroom awaits.